Book Review: Wicked Saints by Emily A. Ducan (eARC)

A girl who can speak to gods must save her people without
destroying herself.

A prince in danger must decide who to trust.

A boy with a monstrous secret waits in the wings.

Together, they must assassinate the king and stop the
war.

In a centuries-long war where beauty and brutality meet,
their three paths entwine in a shadowy world of spilled blood and mysterious
saints, where a forbidden romance threatens to tip the scales between dark and
light. Wicked Saints is the thrilling start to Emily A.
Duncan’s devastatingly Gothic Something Dark and Holy trilogy.

I’ll be honest, I have been struggling with
what to actually say about this book ever since I finished it because it is
UNLIKE anything that I’ve ever read. This book sucked me in from the very first
chapter. There’s something so harrowing about blood magic, and I just couldn’t
get enough!

Kaylazin and Travania have been feuding in a
holy war for a century, which the heretic Travanians are winning due to their
use of blood magic. Nadya is the last known cleric, which means that she is
blessed with the ability to not only communicate with the gods in her mind, but
she can also harness their powers as they see fit. She spent the majority of
her life hidden away at a monastery in the holy mountains training to
understand the fundamentals of divinity. She was to remain a secret from the
Travanians for another year, but one day, the monastery was attacked by Prince
Serefin, crown Prince of Travania, and his army.

Nadya manages to narrowly escape to an
abandoned church with her priestess and confidant. Unfortunately, they both
quickly realize that they were not the only ones to seek refuge in the
abandoned church. They bump into two sibling refugees from the Akolans, Rashid
and Parijahan, who are traveling with a mysterious boy named Malachiasz that
both Nadya and Anna do not trust; especially because he is a blood mage from
Travania. It’s not long before the church is under siege from Prince Serefin,
which forces the unlikely group to band together in order to survive the brutal
battle that ensues (purposefully keep this part vague because I don’t want to
give away any spoilers).

Following the battle at the church, the group
formulates a plan to work together to kill the Travanian king. In doing so,
Nadya would put an end to blood magic and restore power to the gods…well that’s
as long as everyone does their part in ensuring everything goes to plan. And
let’s just say, we all know how group projects turn out.

When I first heard that this story was a dark
fantasy, I don’t think I actually put a lot of stock into that. I was blown
away at how dark this story was. From the very beginning, the story is covered
in blood. The blood mages cut themselves and smear the blood on the pages of
their spell books to activate whatever spells they are trying to cast. There
were definitely some scenes that were intense and gruesome. I never thought
anything in the plot felt misplaced considering how violent the story was.

I absolutely loved the characters in this
book. Nadya is definitely naïve and only focuses the religion of the Kalyazin’s
as true, but Malachaisz constantly questions everything she stands for and
believes in. Watching the slow-burn romance unfold between these two was
utterly addicting. I couldn’t get enough.

Prince Serefin. Looking back, I think I love
his character the most. He is broken. And I mean coming from an abusive,
tyrannical father and drinks himself into an absolute stupor every single night
kind of broken. I really ended up sympathizing with him towards the end because
everything that he thought he knew and stood for, is completely ripped out from
underneath him.

Overall, if
you like your fairytales drenched in blood, deception and betrayal then this
book is for you. This dark fantasy lures you into a heart-racing adventure
filled with magic, gods, monsters, and rich Russian and Polish folklore. The
plot if full of twists and turns that leave you questioning who you should
trust. By the end, my heart was ripped out and spat back in my face. I can’t
wait for book 2!!!

Thank
you to Wednesday Books/St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the eARC. This did
not influence my review. All opinions are my own.